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Two weeks ago my 2008 Toyota yaris blew third gear. The car does have 86,000 miles on it, but they are all highway miles. It is an Automatic and there were no signs of transmission problems. No slipping/grinding or hard shifts. We were accelerating up a hill and the car downshifted from 4 to 3 and instead of third there was nothing the car slips into neutral. After 10 min of fighting with the car the check engine light came on. Mechanic said the code the engine light was throwing was for a blown solenoid, but when he did a conductivity test the solenoids were fine. He stated that the entire transaxle needs replacing. Any thoughts on this
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A solenoid converts electrical energy into mechanical energy so im not sure if ‘blown’ would be the right term do use. Did the previous technician working on your vehicle compare the resistance specs against a new solenoid or against factory specs? What about the wiring? Did he check the integrity of the wiring by doing voltage drop tests and such?
Quoted From dreamer2355:
Ugh, i just posted a huge reply but there was an error with the website so ill try again……
What was the exact code when the CEL came on?
If you know the location of the particular shift solenoid at fault, you can disconnect it from its harness and check the solenoid by completing a continuity test and cross referencing those results against factory specs if possible.
If you have access to a bi-directional scantool, they have the ability to activate shift solenoids to help in the aid of diagnosing shift solenoid issues.
I would start myself by checking the integrity of the circuit for the shift solenoid which has the current fault with the use of wiring diagrams and making sure you have good power and grounds.
You also have the option too of putting 12v’s to the shift solenoid and listening for a mechanical action. Again, i would do this unplugged from the rest of the circuit.
Hope this helps.
The continuity all of the solenoids have been tested. Would a blown solenoid be the cause of no third gear? Another Mechanic said it was the transmission as well
Ugh, i just posted a huge reply but there was an error with the website so ill try again……
What was the exact code when the CEL came on?
If you know the location of the particular shift solenoid at fault, you can disconnect it from its harness and check the solenoid by completing a continuity test and cross referencing those results against factory specs if possible.
If you have access to a bi-directional scantool, they have the ability to activate shift solenoids to help in the aid of diagnosing shift solenoid issues.
I would start myself by checking the integrity of the circuit for the shift solenoid which has the current fault with the use of wiring diagrams and making sure you have good power and grounds.
You also have the option too of putting 12v’s to the shift solenoid and listening for a mechanical action. Again, i would do this unplugged from the rest of the circuit.
Hope this helps.
Transmissions are an iffy part of the vehicle. So many parts can go wrong and break. One piece of advice I can give, after rebuilding my 45RFE on my 2002 Dodge Intrepid (I sold it a while back), is to have the mechanic ensure the solenoids are not clogged. Not only are they electronically actuated, but they also mechanically engage/disengage to move the check balls. A continuity test may show positive because the solenoid actually works, but if there is just the tiniest debris in the way of the check ball, it will not engage/disengage properly.
Tiny trash like pieces of the filter, dirt in the tranny oil, even air bubbles can cause some problems. Best bet, if your inclined to do it, is drop the transmission yourself and take it to a transmission shop…the labor will be less (because they don’t have to remove it from the vehicle) and see what they say.
My fear at this point is that the clutch disks or steels were damaged, then you may be better off rebuilding the transmission. Hope this helps!
It would be best to post this question to the automotive question forum but we are all learning this new system so no worries. To be honest with a problem like that it’s hard to say but you might want to take it to a transmission specilist or Toyota as they SHOULD be best equiped to diagnose the problem properly. Automatic transmissions are complicated creatures and need special attention that most people are not familiar with. Good luck.
Maybe just to try something that is free before you start spending serious money on this, you could try disconnecting the battery for a while to reset any computers that control the transmission. Its a long shot but its free.
i would first try checking the atf fluid, then i would try to clear the engine light and see if u stil have the trans problem..if it comes back then i would conduct another test of the solinoid because out of all the cars ive had in the past with trans problems, they all started with sliping or thumps.. with only 86k on that toyota i would check the simple things such as solinoid/ atf (drain and fill) good luck with the fix!
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